… by purchasing one square foot (not even a square metre) of land on the Isle of Jura in Scotland. For £37. What a bargain.
*cough*
It’s amazing what you can find on the Internet, hey?
Total number of days counted was just nine
Total jogging distance was a measly 9.6km
Total walking distance was a measly 5.4km
To see it full-size, please click on the image
A slow start, but it’s a start. I’m trying to increase my distance by 400m every time I go to the track.
Ching Cheong has been sentenced to five years. His lawyer doesn’t want to reveal too much with regards to the specifics of the penalty, but the China Daily is quite happy to. Apparently,
According to the verdict, Ching Cheong is also deprived of political rights for one year and personal property worth 300,000 yuan (about US$37,500) has been confiscated.”The penalty is a mitigated one considering that after Ching Cheong was detained, he voluntarily confessed to more espionage activities than those the state security departments had known about. He also gave up his notebook computer, which contained evidence of espionage, to the authorities,” according to a document released by the court.
Seeing how the maximum penalty for spying is death, his additional dastardly espionage activites and notebook computer must contain some stellar information. None of which will see the light of day as his trial was conducted in a closed courtroom, of course.
I’ve read elsewhere that his supporters are hoping for a medical parole, although there has been no mention of his health status. I wonder what political negotiations would have to be going on in order for that to happen, and if the Hong Kong or Singapore governments value his liberty enough to do so.
Her and her sweeping indictment of foreigners working in Singapore. Sure, some will (I quote):
- Feel and consider themselves superior to the locals.
- Have a condescending attitude towards the locals.
- Think that they are here because the locals are unable to perform and deliver.
- Create a chasm between themselves and the locals. The disparity between immigrants and locals is beginning to show.
- Create social problems that tarnish the image of Singapore.
These are all a matter of a person’s character. I have certainly met my fair share of ‘fellow Singaporeans’ who have such low self-esteem they project such a level of extreme reverse racism that it makes me want to spew.
Foreigner won’t let you manhandle his girlfriend? What a racist!! Fight!!! (What male or female will be comfortable with a stranger, regardless of race, trying to touch your significant other inappropriately?)
The foreigners come here to do nothing and get paid a lot — this comes from one of my aunts, and plenty of others. (This doesn’t happen any more. Expat packages are pretty much a thing of the past. And the reason why some foreigners are hired is because the Singaporeans do not have the skills and experience to deliver. You may be unhappy with this, but the truth’s the truth.)
Racist and xenophobic Singaporeans are equally guilty of creating a ‘chasm’ — I’ve lived in Australia and China, and both times there have been ‘Singapore Clubs’. While not totally exclusionary (they organise events with other clubs), it tells me a lot, mainly that a majority of Singaporeans feel that they have to stick together. If there’s nothing wrong with that, why can’t foreigners here have their clubs / social groups too? Also, by projecting reverse racism on foreigners, Singaporeans exclude themselves.
And finally, these mysterious social problems. Like we don’t have our own Singaporeans creating ‘social problems’. We have gangs, drug dealers, domestic help abusers, murderers… everyone is different, and it’s a matter of luck, so to speak. Sometimes we’ll get a foreigner who has come to Singapore because they’re running away from something (not necessarily legal problems), and have a colonial attitude. Sure. Sometimes we’ll get a foreigner who’s a dog and goes to the dodgy bars and picks up prostitutes. But most people aren’t like that. Surely we should look beyond what kind of passport everyone has and deal with each person on a one-to-one level.
We are going to get foreigners who do bad things, just as much as we get locals who do bad things. We can’t control everything, and we can’t expect the government to be psychic and know who’s got a decent character when processing their visa application. That’s life. Stop whining.
Update: another way of looking at the ‘foreign talent’ question — blaming the government as usual. Regarding NS, one of Neil’s friend’s wives got her PR status and was hoping to put her husband, currently on an Employment Pass, down as her dependent. The ICA told her he might have to do NS if that were the case. So there. While some foreigners might get special treatment, I reckon the majority would not.
Suntec Singapore completes facelift ahead of IMF-World Bank meetings — like they had any choice.
Keeping Up with the Joneses Can Put You Behind is an article from Yahoo! Finance about the social psychology of money (via Lifehacker). The primary reference is a book, Green with Envy: Why Keeping Up with the Joneses is Keeping Us in Debt, and the article states:
For instance, Andrew Oswald of England’s Warwick University and David Blanchflower of Dartmouth College found that even if our incomes are rising, we tend to become less happy if the incomes of others are increasing more.
…
Meanwhile, books like “The Millionaire Next Door” by Thomas Stanley and William Danko have documented the fact that many wealthy people got that way by living below their means and saving heaps of money. But, as Boss points out, no one looks at someone with a used car and modest home and says, “Wow, they must be putting a lot of money aside for their future!”
Sounds like a book many people I know could use.
What happens to the people who are trying to be the Joneses so that others will want to keep up with them?
I’ve just heard a broadcaster on the BBC World Service say that Kofi Annan was going to “take breakfast” with… er… someone to do with the Lebanon-Israel-Middle East situation.
Iraqi Peace Activist Forced to Change T-Shirt Bearing Arabic Script Before Boarding Plane at JFK. According to one of the authorities, “You can’t wear a t-shirt with Arabic script and come to an airport. It is like wearing a t-shirt that reads “I am a robber” and going to a bank.” Because a terrorist would make his intentions known well before he boarded a plane.
Right.
All this hysteria means the terrorists are winning.
A Runners World article, Run Better Every Day, is very motivating. This morning (well, mid-morning), I had a cup of oolong tea (my exciting trip to the emergency room after a run in May 2003 has been attributed to a food allergy, but I don’t know what kind of food it was), and hit the gym.
In future, I resolve to:
- get up early and make exercise the first thing I do every day (since I don’t bother to stay out late, this shouldn’t be too much of a problem)
- vary my exercise because I get bored easily (it’s going to be running or walking)
- remember to eat
- sleep early
- not beat myself up with guilt if I miss a day or stay out late one night
I have started logging my exercise on a spreadsheet, and I plan to publish it on this website at the start of every month, charting my progress.
Dear Maria,
Yes, you’re right, I do not have long nails. I loathe long nails. In fact, when I was a child, I used to see how short I could cut my nails. They are so short they make some people wince. I am quite a small person, so my fingers are relatively long (I used to play the piano — badly — too). And it is definitely my opinion that the crafting I do and long nails don’t work.
I don’t, however, wear rings often. Not because I don’t like them, but because I’m too lazy. My style tends toward silver or platinum, non-delicate styles.
Love,
Andrea
P.S. I think Clive Thompson is cute too. Rowr.
I’d seen this on the telly a couple of months ago — the Singapore government is going to provide countrywide WiFi coverage using WiMax. After my hacking scare on What’s On Xiamen, I’m extremely loathe to do anything using a public, unsecured wireless network — except aimless surfing. If you must check your e-mail or access password-protected sites while connected to a public hotspot, your best option is to use SSH tunnelling.
That’s according to an editorial in Associated Content (thanks, Terry). The big news is that John Mark Karr is not the killer as his DNA doesn’t match that found at the murder scene. He’s ‘famous’ now, though, which may have been what he was after all along.
Sobering news. I learned via an e-mail that someone I know in Xiamen hit and killed a female bicyclist while driving (translation) late last week. The damage to the vehicle indicates that he was driving very fast. He did not stop until taxi drivers forced him to — he had dragged her for 40 metres at this point.
I’m not going to say anything more, especially what I think (since I have known him for a few years), because (a) I wasn’t at the scene (nor am I even in the country any more); and (b) I don’t want to add to gossip (which will invariably be out of control in Xiamen right now).
The only thing I will say is pretty general, and applies to all foreigners in Xiamen: this is not a place where you can act any way you please and get away with it because you’re “a foreigner” (you know who you are); you are responsible for your actions, and all actions have consequences — some more serious than others. Please, please be careful.
I’m big on re-designing when I feel unsettled. I think. I decided to completely re-do Twisted Sockster, because I wasn’t happy with how it looked the first time I re-designed it. So there you go. Only one post so far, because brilliance takes time. Ahem.
On being unsettled. Neil mentioned, over the phone, that he doesn’t feel settled in back home, and doesn’t know if he will, after being away for six years. Six years is a long time, I reckon, and he also mentioned that no one seemed to go out any more. He went to The Station with his sister and the place was quiet. His mate B— is getting married next year to his long time girlfriend. I imagine many of his childhood and university friends have changed a lot, too.
So will he settle in? We agreed that he would probably feel better once he finds a job and (consequently) eases into a routine. Irons are in the fire.
I’ve been in Singapore for something like six weeks now with no jobs on the horizon, full-time or temporary. I’m not settling well, either. My days are spent reading and snacking, or computering and not eating (I’m working on remembering to eat), and going for jogs or walks in the evening. I’ve made a total of one amigurumi duck (it’s still lacking wings), made and lost one wrist cuff, a second cuff has been stalled in mid-stitch, the sewing machine is fixed but I don’t want to sew on the floor amongst the cat hair, I’ve been to the bead shops and so far I’ve made one pair of earrings (I really like them), and I listen to the radio.
The designer in Xiamen says he’s too busy to finish laying out the September – October What’s On Xiamen, and since I haven’t been able to harangue him, this issue is going to be late. By at least a week, by my estimate.
Not working much is really frustrating! It’s fun for a few weeks, but it’s lost its charm. I need something. I’ve been considering what options I have. Craft like mad (I’m already mad, so this won’t be hard) and hope someone buys my duckies (unlikely)? Try to score a paid blogging job (well nigh impossible)? Come up with some harebrained scheme to sell stuff on eBay (my stuff is kinda crap)? Write a book about low-budget English magazine start ups (hahahahahahahahahahaha)?
… available for females aged nine to 26. I recall being told that it was important for women to get pap smears once they become sexually active to check for cervical cancer, so I’m thinking, nine year olds are sexually active? WTF?
Attacks on people in Glasgow? A “girl gang” and a “gang of up to 12 youths”? What attracts adolescents to meaningless violence? Whether or not the attackers had some score to settle with the victims (and the article says both attacks were unprovoked), it really boggles my mind. Even if I was a teenager and desperate to be perceived as cool, I would definitely draw the line at hurting someone like that.
What kind of people would commit such violence? Are they unemployed, with low self-esteem, doing poorly at school (if they even show up regularly), products of dysfunctional families? Are they easily influenced by more charismatic peers? They would, I imagine, have committed other crimes before, although perhaps not quite this shocking — something like shoplifting? Might they have bullied other, weaker children?
It just seems so senseless.
(By the way, four people are treated for knife wounds in Scotland EVERY SINGLE DAY.)